<p> “I do not think use of air power against the naxals will work. The Air Chief himself has opposed this,” Kumar told a group of journalists here.<br /><br />“Police action is sometimes required to tackle violence and it is also used in Bihar. But that alone cannot provide long-term solution to the naxal problem,” he said, adding that an efficient and corruption-free public service delivery system and development with justice could bring back people’s faith in democracy. The JD(U) leader also admitted that there is variance in opinion between him and party chief Sharad Yadav on Women’s Reservation Bill and called it a “difference of approach”. <br /><br />Rejecting reports that he had been “politically isolated” Kumar said: “I do not have differences with Sharad Yadav on any other issue except his approach to Women’s Reservation Bill. He says that the bill should not be brought for passage in Parliament without the provision of quota within quota, I say let the bill be passed first and the issue of quota within quota will be discussed later.”<br /><br />Kumar maintained that his opinion on the issue of giving reservation to women changed after he introduced 50 per cent quota for women from all sections of the society in panchayats in Bihar and saw its impact. <br /><br />He also asked the Centre to set up an independent statutory body to do a survey on the Below Poverty Line (BPL) households just like the Census.<br />Referring to the Food Security Bill he said, Centre could lay down the criteria for identifying BPL households, but could not decide the numbers for the states.“According to the estimates of the Centre there are 65 lakh BPL families in Bihar and they would give allocation for that much beneficiaries. But our records say there are 1 crore 40 lakh BPL households,” Kumar said.<br /><br />Maoists kill two TMC supporters<br /> In their continued offensive against the government, suspected Maoists shot dead two Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers at Bandhghora village near Lalgarh in West Midnapore district, police said on Saturday. The rebels chopped the limbs of Paban Mahato (38) and Kaushik Dutta (35), workers at the electricity department in Manikpara in Jhargram, and fired at them.</p>
<p> “I do not think use of air power against the naxals will work. The Air Chief himself has opposed this,” Kumar told a group of journalists here.<br /><br />“Police action is sometimes required to tackle violence and it is also used in Bihar. But that alone cannot provide long-term solution to the naxal problem,” he said, adding that an efficient and corruption-free public service delivery system and development with justice could bring back people’s faith in democracy. The JD(U) leader also admitted that there is variance in opinion between him and party chief Sharad Yadav on Women’s Reservation Bill and called it a “difference of approach”. <br /><br />Rejecting reports that he had been “politically isolated” Kumar said: “I do not have differences with Sharad Yadav on any other issue except his approach to Women’s Reservation Bill. He says that the bill should not be brought for passage in Parliament without the provision of quota within quota, I say let the bill be passed first and the issue of quota within quota will be discussed later.”<br /><br />Kumar maintained that his opinion on the issue of giving reservation to women changed after he introduced 50 per cent quota for women from all sections of the society in panchayats in Bihar and saw its impact. <br /><br />He also asked the Centre to set up an independent statutory body to do a survey on the Below Poverty Line (BPL) households just like the Census.<br />Referring to the Food Security Bill he said, Centre could lay down the criteria for identifying BPL households, but could not decide the numbers for the states.“According to the estimates of the Centre there are 65 lakh BPL families in Bihar and they would give allocation for that much beneficiaries. But our records say there are 1 crore 40 lakh BPL households,” Kumar said.<br /><br />Maoists kill two TMC supporters<br /> In their continued offensive against the government, suspected Maoists shot dead two Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers at Bandhghora village near Lalgarh in West Midnapore district, police said on Saturday. The rebels chopped the limbs of Paban Mahato (38) and Kaushik Dutta (35), workers at the electricity department in Manikpara in Jhargram, and fired at them.</p>
